(Article is from Austin Business Journal, copyright belongs to owner) Just a few months after announcing plans to relocate, Elon Musk’s electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc. has moved its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin.
Tesla made the relocation official in a Dec. 1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which indicate corporate operations are now based at the same site as the company’s $1.1 billion factory under construction in eastern Travis County. Musk divulged the relocation plans in October but did not give too many details, such as timing.
“On December 1, 2021, Tesla, Inc. relocated its corporate headquarters to Gigafactory Texas at 13101 Harold Green Road, Austin, Texas 78725,” Tesla officials said in the brief SEC filing.
The “gigafactory” is at least 4.28 million square feet and is expected to start operations by the end of the year, according to state filings. Tesla intends to produce its Cybertruck, Model 3, Model Y SUV and Semi tractor-trailer there.
There has been much speculation about where exactly the headquarters would be located in Austin because of Musk’s enormous land holdings in eastern Travis County. A business entity tied to Tesla has amassed more than 2,500 acres off the State Highway 130 toll road, and Musk appears to be buying more.
The New York Times previously reported the company’s HQ in Palo Alto, had roughly 750 employees, not including manufacturing workforce at its nearby plant in Fremont, California. It was unclear at press time how many employees will be moving to the region and how many corporate positions will become available. Musk has said Tesla is not completely leaving California because of its major plant in Fremont.
Musk has also proclaimed that Tesla will need at least 10,000 people in Austin by the end of 2022.
Now that the move is official, Tesla is the second-largest publicly traded business in Austin, based on its 2020 revenue of about $31.5 billion. It trails only Oracle Corp., which similarly relocated to Austin from California. Oracle reported revenue of $39.1 billion for its 2020 fiscal year, which ended last May.
Dell Technologies Inc., based just north of Austin in Round Rock, ranks No. 1 overall in the metro area, with 2020 revenue of nearly $92.2 billion.
Rumors of a Tesla HQ relocation began circling in May 2020 when Musk publicly threatened to leave California over a political clash concerning Covid regulations for businesses. The billionaire has called Texas home since late last year, and other company executives have moved to Austin.
Musk’s other startups — tunneling company The Boring Company, brain implant startup Neuralink Corp. and space exploration company SpaceX — have also shown signs of activity in the region, from job postings to purchasing land in the outer suburbs. Musk’s philanthropic organization, the Musk Foundation, moved to Austin last year.
